Back in NOLA: 🦢 swan boats + beach day 🐊

Last time I touched down in New Orleans, we went straight to Drago’s for a dozen of their iconic charbroiled oysters; this time, after hearing they had fresh crawfish out, we headed to Rouses 😍

We piled in about 5lbs and devoured them as soon as we got home. It felt good to be back 🙃

During my last visit, I had felt elated and excited about the direction my life was heading in. This time around, it really started to hit me that I would be moving here in the not too distant future. My friends and family had tried valiantly to warn me about this, the gravity of this major life decision, but I had always brushed it off in a way. I had lived in New Orleans and visited several times after that, so I felt overwhelmingly confident it would be easy and not as big a deal. But the more time I spent here, the more it started to really dawn on me that I was in for a major adjustment and that it was really going to take time for me to build a life here and feel at home. I definitely underestimated how much of a process it’s going to be and how homesick I might feel in the beginning.

But, like everything else, it’s something I’ll have to work through. My boyfriend is incredibly supportive and understanding, and many (many) meltdowns later 😂 I’ve realised it’s going to be fine, I just have to be realistic and know that it won’t always be easy but it will be worth it.

We had the little one over the weekend and decided to go to City Park to have a go in the swan pedal boats, something that’s been on my list for forever! 🦢

First thing I’ll say is it’s way more exhausting than it looks, particularly if, like us, you get stuck in strong winds 😂 Legs working overtime, we steered around the pond, the wind blowing us past the white buoys that mark where the boats are allowed to go and dangerously close to getting stuck under the bridge 😂

We eventually made it out of the danger zone and after only 30 minutes of pedalling we called it a day 😂

The next day we set out to do something else that had been on my NOLA bucket list for years: a beach day at Fontainebleau State Park.

The Northshore is only about a 45 minute drive from where my boyfriend lives and to get there you have to drive across a long-ass bridge on Lake Pontchartrain. It didn’t feel that long though, what with cloudspotting and the music blaring (though it’s possible I will never listen to Leave The Door Open ever again) 😂

We had set off early, so picked up some tacos to have for lunch at the beach from Mi Mamacita’s.

Then headed for the park.

First stop was to say hey to the friendly locals…

But first you have to spot them. They’re very good at being inconspicuous 🐊

Then made our way to the beachfront, where we set up for the rest of the day. The weather was perfect, warm with a light breeze, and the little one loved playing in the sand and water for hours and hours.

Munchkin was buried first…

Then me…

As the temperature started to cool, we wandered over through the trees to do a little exploring and found smaller beaches further up. The water wasn’t as clear but the views were pretty nice.

A couple was out there with a photographer doing a maternity photoshoot, which was just a lovely choice of location and they looked so happy 🥲

Meanwhile these guys were back-flipping into the water, presumably for social media 😅

It was a long and wonderful day. We headed home with sun-kissed skin, sand in places it shouldn’t be and smiles that wouldn’t budge. I’ve always known life is better by the water 💙